This book is dedicated to three heroines - Avdotya Panayeva, Polina Viardot and Lilya Brik. All three inspired poets and were their muses. The lives of these women are connected with the fate and creativity of Nikolai Nekrasov, Ivan Turgenev and Vladimir Mayakovsky. But, regardless of this, they themselves were extraordinary natures: Avdotya Panaeva wrote stories and novels, became the author of the famous “Memoirs”; Pauline Viardot was a magnificent singer and composed music; Lilya Brik, who was at the center of the artistic circle for many years, left behind interesting notes. The book contains articles about these heroines, written by the author at different times. All of them, with the exception of one, were published in Russian and American “thick magazines” - “Neva”, “Questions of Literature”, “New Journal”.